For the first time since 1998, the University Athletic Association crowned a conference champion other than the Emory University Eagles as the 2026 UAA Championships came down to the final event at the Ratner Athletic Center in Chicago, Illinois.
New York University needed a history-making performance to knock off the Eagles and the Violets delivered across the four days in Chicago. Led by UAA Swimmer of the Year Kaley McIntyre, NYU claimed 10 event titles including three individual efforts by McIntyre to narrowly edge out the Eagles by a score of 1,900-1885, with the 15-point margin of victory representing the closest on the women's side in UAA history.
The Eagles had a stellar week in their own regard with six event championships as a team while combining for 23 All-UAA finishes. Of the six event titles, five were won by individuals including two more Saturday night.
After coming into the final day of competition with a 24-point deficit, the Eagles steadily increased their lead with performances in the 3-meter dive, 1650 Freestyle and 200 Backstroke but the Violets began to mount their comeback with strong showings in the 100 Freestyle, 200 Breaststroke, and 200 Fly to set up a winner-take-all final event in the 400 Freestyle Relay.
The Eagles had five All-UAA performers across the first three events with senior Meredith Liu headlining the finishers with her first-ever UAA title in the 1650 Freestyle, throwing down a sub-17:00 time as she won at 16:59.77.
Additionally, senior Ren Watt led three Eagles in the finals of the 3-meter as she took third place with a score of 473.35 and in the 1650 Free, senior Morgan Main won bronze with her mark of 17:05.83.
Emory's lead increased to its largest of the week at 126 points following the 200 Backstroke where the Eagles had six athletes finish inside the top nine with freshman Holly Brundage (2nd, 1:59.63) and junior Emma Lunn (3rd, 1:59.75) leading the podium finishes for the Gold caps.
The Eagles added three more All-UAA finishes over the next three events with junior Katie Cohen winning her third consecutive conference title in the 200 Breaststroke at 2:15.96 while the team saw runner-up finishes by sophomore Maddy Lu (2:16.74) in the 200 Breaststroke and sophomore Elodie Mitchell in the 200 Fly (2:01.52). However, the Violets used their depth in those events to slash the Eagles' lead to the narrowest of margins as the teams went into the relay with Emory in front 1,797-1,796.
New York started the event with a win in the consolation final as their B team outpaced the Eagles' B team of Mitchell, senior Penny Celtnieks, sophomore Allison Greeneway, and senior Ava Kennedy which touched at 3:24.77. The win put NYU back ahead by five points, setting up the dramatic finale.
The Violets, led by McIntyre, secured their first-ever conference championship with a winning time of 3:20.42 while the Emory group of graduate student Sammi Thiele, junior Natalie Boorjian, sophomore Caitlin Crysel and senior Avery Sammons took third at 3:25.10.
With UAAs concluded, the Eagles will turn their sights to the final last chance meet next week as Emory will host its February Invitational on the 20th and 21st before gearing up for the NCAA Championships next month in Indianapolis.
